distortion
/dɪsˈtɔːʃən/noun
distortion is spelled D-I-S-T-O-R-T-I-O-N: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, distortion means “An act of distorting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of distortion is distortions.
How many letters and syllables are in distortion?
| Letters | 10: D-I-S-T-O-R-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is distortion?
Distortion appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce distortion?
- UK /dɪsˈtɔːʃən/
Distortion has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-distortion.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with distortion?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as distortion from its last stressed vowel (/ɔʃən/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of distortion
- distortions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does distortion mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An act of distorting.
- 2
A result of distorting.
- 3
A misrepresentation of the truth.
The story he told was a bit of a distortion.
- 4
Noise or other artifacts caused in the electronic reproduction of sound or music.
This recording sounds awful due to the distortion.
- 5
An effect used in music, most commonly on guitars in rock or metal.
- 6
An aberration that causes magnification to change over the field of view.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Distortion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of distorting:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | distorsion |
| German | Verzerrung, Verformung, Verwindung, Verdrehung |
| Portuguese | distorção |
| Spanish | distorsión |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does distortion come from?
Borrowed from Latin distortio, distortionis, from distortus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).